Title favourite Carlos Alcaraz knocked out of French Open after quarter-final loss to Alexander Zverev

Spanish 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz was knocked out of the 2022 French Open with a quarter-final loss to German third seed Alexander Zverev. The match came to a conclusion only after an epic tie-break in the fourth set with Zverev winning 6-5, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7). 

Zverev capitalised on an error-filled performance from Carlos Alcaraz to tame the high-flying teenaged Spaniard and reach a second straight semi-final at the French Open.

This was the first time the 25-year-old defeated a top-10 opponent at a Grand Slam in 12 attempts and his victory came against a player who came into the contest having won 14 consecutive matches.

Zverev, who lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the 2021 semi-final, had a 2-1 head-to-head lead against Alcaraz but his opponent had won their most recent meeting — the only one on clay — this month in the final of the ATP Masters in Madrid.

Alcaraz made 56 unforced errors as Zverev saved a set point in the fourth set tiebreak before converting his second matchpoint with a superb backhand service return to set up a meeting against either world number one Novak Djokovic or 13-time French Open champion Rafa Nadal.